Broody
by bad pearl
Summary: Pearl deals with a new found bump in the road.


Pearl squirmed uncomfortably around on her bed, the cramps from her stomach making it hard to relax. After a few minutes of tossing and turning she breathed out a heavy sigh, and slid off the side of the mattress. She wobbled for a second and cursed silently at the new weight she still wasn't used too.

She had had eggs inside her before of course but those times were… different. They had never been fertilized so they had simply passed through her body with little to no discomfort. This time, however, she was with Garnet. A wave of anxiety rushed over her as she thought of the gem she loved. She had been out on a mission for several days now and Pearl had no idea when she would be returning.

She wrung her hands as she thought of telling the stoic gem about what their…activities had resulted in. The bump had first appeared a few hours after Garnet's departure, and Pearl had been a bundle of nerves ever since. She surveyed the small room she had been camping out in. She'd been hiding in her room located at the base of her waterfalls that only she and Garnet knew about for the last few days.

The room contained a bed and a couple of bookcases overflowing with various human novels. An old, overstuffed reading chair that she had found buried in Amethyst's room sat in the corner next to a lamp. She had tucked herself away in here from Amethyst and Steven to avoid their reactions. It's not that she thought that they would react negatively or anything, it just felt odd to tell anyone else before Garnet.

She walked over to the bookshelf and picked up a fantasy novel that Steven had lent her. He had raved about it and had been pestering her for some time to read the series. She nestled into the cozy chair and lost herself in the pages of the book. After a few minutes she felt her eyelids begin to close (The eggs put quite the strain on her body and she frequently found that she needed to rest.). She felt her eyes flutter closed and a calm, comforting blackness surrounded her as she dosed off.

-Some time later…-

The room was almost dead silent except for the quiet sound of the water fall outside. However, the cascading water sounded far off and dull in Pearl's ears. She was perched on the edge of her chair, a concentrated look on her face as she stared at her bed.

She could see the bundle she had made in the middle of her sheets. The messy looking bed looked off in her well organized room, and any other time the disorganization would have driven her up the wall. But this 'mess' was different. It had been constructed as a makeshift nest.

In the middle of it lay 5 eggs that strongly resembled Pearls. They were somewhat bigger than chicken eggs, but as hard as gems. Pearl stood suddenly and stretched the stiffness from her limbs. She shuffled over to her eggs and placed her hand over the closest one.

She could feel the living gem inside the hard protective eggshell. A small grin crept over her face as she felt its presence. Tears threatened to fall from her eyes and she quickly moved to recompose herself. Taking a deep breathe, she looked to the entrance of her room. It was time to face the others.

She walked briskly towards the exit, pausing for a second to look at the small bundle, before jumping to the top of one of the waterfalls.

Pearl stepped lithely out of the temple door, surveying the dimly lit house. She padded into the middle of the room. Using the light from Steven's TV, she saw that the kitchen clock read half past 9PM. She made her way up to Steven's bed, finding him entangled in his comforter and snoring quietly. She silently turned the TV off before descending down the stairs and made her way back to the temple door, hoping to look for her teammates in the temple.

"And where have you been these past few days?" Pearl nearly jumped out of her skin at the sudden voice, whirling around to find Amethyst standing behind her. The purple gem's arms were crossed over her chest, her eyebrows cocked as her foot tapped, waiting for Pearls answer.

"A-Amethyst! You startled me. What are you doing here?" Pearl whispered, her eyes darting up to where Steven was still-thankfully- sleeping soundly.

"I was looking after Steven, unlike you! Where the heck have you been for the last 5 days?" She growled. 5 days? Pearl thought as guilt creeped through her body. She had been sure she'd only been away for three. I must have slept longer than I thought.

Shaking her head out of her thoughts, she looked down at her teammate. A forced smile was plastered onto her face as she tried to avoid telling Amethyst the truth. "I'm sorry Amethyst; I must have lost track of time in my room. I was uh… practicing some new sword fighting techniques that I read about."

"Yeah right!" Amethyst huffed, glaring at her pale friend. "I looked all over your room! I would've seen you."

Pearl could feel herself begin to sweat nervously, her eyes darted around the room in hope that she would find an escape route. Realizing that it was useless, she rubbed her temple and let out an annoyed sigh.

"Look Amethyst, I can't talk about this right now." She hissed through gritted teeth.

"Why not?" Amethyst snapped, her voice rising slightly.

"Be quiet!" Pearl shushed, clapping her hands over Amethyst's mouth. "Let's just go back to the temple and-" Her sentence was cut off as a bright light filled the room and the familiar sound of the warp pad filled the room. The light dimmed and Garnet stepped off of the warp pad, a bubbled gem hovering above her right hand.

"Greeting." She murmured.

"Garnet!" Amethyst exclaimed as loudly as she could while still whispering. Her eyes shifted to pearl before she whispered, "You're so gonna get it!"

"Amethyst!" Pearl hissed, but it was too late. Amethyst had already darted off in the direction of the dark colored gem as she made her way through the temple door. Cursing, Pearl leapt after them, just barely making it through the door as it whooshed shut behind her. She followed silently a short distance from her teammates, anxiety forming a knot in her stomach.

"Soo Garnet, how was your mission?" Ugh, Pearl could just hear the smirk in Amethysts voice.

"It was fine." Garnet replied. Pearl could detect the slight annoyance in her voice that they were still following her to where the salvaged gems were kept. She wondered why she was even letting them tag along in the first place.

The trio entered the large room that was bathed in red light. Garnet let the bubble she was carrying drift from her hand, and Pearl watched as it drifted away and came to rest beside some of the others.

"I'm sure you'll be happy to know that Pearl never bothered to show up since you left." At this, Garnet paused to scowl at the short gem. Pearl bit the inside of her cheek and glared daggers at purple tattletale. If only looks could kill.

Garnet turned to Pearl, the scowl still planted on her face. "What is she talking about?"

Pearl attempted to swallow the lump in her throat, bringing her hands together and wringing them nervously. "W-well um, I didn't mean to disappear I-I just…" She lost track of her sentence as Garnet stepped towards her, the tall gem looming over her. She could see Amethyst standing behind her, a huge grin plastered on her face. Pearl felt her face heat up as she sweated profusely. The edges of her vision blurred and she went to touch her head, attempting to steady herself.

"Are you ok Pearl?" Garnet asked, her voice betraying her concern for her partner. She placed her hands on Pearls shoulders to keep her from tipping over. "Did something happen?"

"I-uh…" She felt something touch her leg, and looked down to see Amethyst had come over, a worried look replacing the grin she had had on her face.

Pearl took a deep breath and looked Garnet in the eyes –past her shades- and steeled herself. "It's easier to just show you." She said, trying to keep her voice from shaking. With this, she took Garnets hand and led her out of the room. Garnet frowned, worry eating at her thoughts. Amethyst trailed after them, wondering what was going on.

She led them to the overhanging that sat before the waterfalls in her room. Letting go of her girlfriend's hand, she jumped off the edge, falling for a short while before landing deftly on her feet. Garnet and Amethyst landed next to her. Pearl weaved throughout the falling water, eventually ducking behind one of the pillars that fell near the back wall, and she stepped into her room.

Her teammates followed closely behind her, both surveying the room. Amethysts face scrunched in confusion, looking at the area that clearly belonged to Pearl. "You have a room? Wait, is this where you were for the past few days?"

"Yes." Pearl mumbled, rubbing her arm as she stared at the ground.

"I don't see what you're acting so anxious about, Pearl." Garnet spoke. Sighing, Pearl took, the taller gems hand and directed her to the bundle that lay in the middle of the bed. Garnet let out a small gasp, her mouth hanging agape slightly.

"What is it?" Amethyst questioned, making her way to stand beside the couple and peered around Garnets legs. "Holy crap…" She murmured, her eyes widening.

"Surprise" Pearl said, a small, nervous smile on her face.

The two were still staring at the nest, to shocked to move.

There was dead silence for about a minute, before Garnets voice broke the stillness. "Pearl," She started, "are these what I think they are?"

"Yes." Pearl whispered the answer barely audible.

There was a flash of red and black as Garnet sped over to Pearl, picking the pale gem up and spinning her around as her gleeful laughter filled the room. Pearl held on tightly as she was spun around, a look of bewilderment on her face. After a couple spins, Garnet set the dazed gem down. Garnet gave her a quick kiss before turning back to the eggs, a huge grin on her face.

Amethyst shot Pearl a questioning glance, but the pale gem was still perplexed over what had just happened. "Uh…Garnet?" She questioned, walking up to her girlfriend. "A-aren't you mad?"

Garnet turned to give her a puzzled look. "Why on earth would I be angry? This is amazing!" Pearl breathed a sigh of relief, her body losing its tenseness.

"It's just… I know now isn't exactly convenient, what with Peridot still out there and the home world-" Her worrying was cut short when Garnet placed a hand on her shoulder. The calm gem gave her a sweet smile before hugging her.

"Their arrival may not be 'convenient', but this is amazing. We're having kids Pearl." Pearl could feel warm liquid falling on shoulder. She pulled away to find that Garnet was crying.

"Garnet? Are you ok?" She urged, wondering what was going through her partners mind.

"Yes, I'm fine it's just. I'm so happy." She admitted, taking of her glasses to wipe the moister from her face.

Pearl felt herself smile. She leaned up to kiss Garnet, starting to cry herself.

"Uh… guys?" Amethysts voice brought them back to their surroundings, and they turned to look at her. "What exactly are we going to do with these guys when they hatch?"

Garnet placed her shades back on her face, walking up to observe the eggs. Pearl walked up beside them, resting her head on Garnets shoulder. "We'll raise them to be Crystal Gems." Garnet stated, her voice strong. "We will love and care for them, and they will help us to protect the earth."

Pearl closed her eyes, content now that everything was looking up.

End


End file.
